Post #2

Naked is developing into a ridiculous humor following the path of his life through his child and teen years. In my first reading David Sedaris, the writer, is a princess of a young boy and he thinks the world was made for him. In my second reading David develops into an overly prejudiced boy but, he can see the prejudice in others make and makes a point of showing it. “’…little fudge-colored girl put her hand on my cheek and said, ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘I wish I could be white and pretty like you.’ She paused…though she were posing for a portrait the federal government might use on a stamp commemorating gallantry” (82). In this we see that he sees prejudice and makes a mockery of people who voice prejudice. Davis is developing into a more independent boy though and he is moving away from hiding under his parents’ wing. His family is still depicted as psycho but now he is more a part of the chaos and now not only the women are crazy. “..sent me newspaper clippings detailing the tragic slaying of joggers and vacationing tourists. ‘This could be you!’ he wrote in the margins” (51). This speaks to his father and it shows the chaotic nature of his whole family. The book is also interesting because every chapter starts a different idea and it skips around in his life. The ideas of the chapters are generally controversial topics from being gay to people with mental disorders. These ideas are generally thought of as bad as well. Mr. Sedaris is also able to turn a small event into a catastrophe.
Themes in the novel are interesting. One topic is cats. The theme about them is that cats are negativity and they circle around bad things. “’You killed me,’ the cat said, pointing at mother with its flattened paw” (50). Cats seem to bring problems and slight conflict to help make problems within the family. Another theme is that bad things or things that are associated with bad things are good within his family. One example is smoking. David and his family are all avid smokers but smoking is associated with those in a mental hospital. Cigarettes in the outside world are bad but in his family they are wonderful. Another topic discussed in the novel is women. Women in David’s story represent the mystery and bring the discovery, they are to be respected but also feared. “She’d looked into the face of something horrible, and I wanted to know what that felt like” (74). He sees women develop and he is intrigued by it. Mr. Sedaris also has a wonderful way of developing his own character as he describes and learns about his family.